Information and commentary about the struggle for democracy in the African kingdom of Swaziland

Friday, November 16, 2012

KING’S PAPER SUPPORTS POLICE TORTURE

The Swazi Observer,
the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, has come out in favour of
police torturing suspects.

In an editorial in the newspaper it speaks approvingly of
taking suspects to the river and tying them to trees so that they freeze.

The police and state security forces regularly torture alleged
suspects, including pro-democracy campaigners, in the kingdom, ruled by King
Mswati, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The Observer was
commenting on a case heard at magistrates court where a man accused of
housebreaking said he had been savagely beaten by police using an iron rod to
make him confess to the crime.

The Observer
said the police probably did this because they ‘cannot have their precious time
wasted by small time thieves like these’.

The newspaper went onto reminisce about the days ‘when
police wore shorts, and polished their boots to a mirror finish, such would
never happen’.

It went on, ‘For such trivialities, the investigating
officer would simply take the accused to the nearest river, especially when it
was winter and a few hours before the break of dawn.

‘The suspect would then be fastened to a tree, and told
the officers would be returning in a few hours. As the waves crashed on
the boulders spraying drops of water on the suspect, he would shiver and gnash
his teeth so much that he prayed the cops returned much earlier.

‘By the time they return, he would be more than willing
to spill the beans and Bingo! the mystery was solved.’

In May 2012 the US State Department investigated the use of torture in Swaziland and found, ‘Security officers reportedly used torture
during interrogation, assaulted citizens, and used excessive force in carrying
out their duties. Reported practices included beatings and temporary
suffocation using a rubber tube tied around the face, nose, and mouth, or
plastic bags over the head.’